Clin ical health psychology in medical settings: a practitioner's guidebook

Practicing psychologists and professional graduate students will find this classic guide invaluable in developing specialized expertise in clinical health psychology. The authors, thirty-year veterans in the field, provide an overview of the roles and functions of clinical health psychologists as well as the education, training, personal, and professional issues involved. Chapters on assessment, intervention, and consulting with medical colleagues present nuts-and-bolts strategies, case examples, and down-to-earth advice for effective practice. This new edition includes expanded discussion of psychometric instruments as well as psychological testing with medical patients. The chapter on ethical issues has been completely updated to reflect the updated (2002) version of the APA Ethics Code, and the chapter on liability now identifies highest areas of risk and discusses strategies to reduce liability. All chapters include updated reading lists to guide the practitioner or student interested in further study in targeted areas.

Practicing psychologists and professional graduate students will find this classic guide invaluable for developing specialized expertise in clinical health psychology. The authors, 30-year veterans in the field, provide an overview of the roles and functions of clinical health psychologists as well as the education, training, personal, and professional issues involved. Chapters on assessment, intervention, and consulting with medical colleagues present nuts-and-bolts strategies, case examples, and down-to-earth advice for effective practice.

Sara J. Knight

This book is an introduction to clinical health psychology, covering its history, scope, and professional practice standards. It describes education and training requirements, roles and functions of the psychologist, and ethical and legal considerations. The authors are highly credible. Dr. Belar, in particular, has been a leader in the development of health psychology as a specialty area. The authors aim to provide an overview of the issues and challenge of psychological assessment, intervention, and consultation with medical patients. Its scope is broad in describing the content of health psychology. It attempts to capture the complexities of psychological service delivery in a multidisciplinary and rapidly changing health care environment. The target audience includes advanced graduate students and interns in clinical psychology and practicing clinical psychologists who want to expand their understanding of health psychology. The authors suggest that it may be useful for other mental health professionals who have an interest in work with medical or surgical patients. Tables and exhibits supplement the text. All are clear and well organized. In addition to literature cited, the authors have included reference lists in each chapter that direct the reader to key sources. References are current and pertinent, but some important works are omitted. Appendixes include resources important to the practitioner new to the area, e.g., professional organizations, journals. The authors use case examples to illustrate their discussion. The guidebook is an outstanding reference for students, interns, and new professionals in health psychology. It provides an insightful consideration of psychologicalservice delivery to medical and surgical patients. Its discussion of consultation to medical and surgical physicians is very good. This second edition is important, given rapid change in health service delivery over the ten years since the first edition.

"Practicing psychologists and professional graduate students will find this classic guide invaluable for developing specialized expertise in clinical health psychology. The authors, 30-year veterans in the field, provide an overview of the roles and functions of clinical health psychologists as well as the education, training, personal, and professional issues involved. Chapters on assessment, intervention, and counseling with medical colleagues present nuts-and-bolts strategies, case examples, and down-to-earth advice for effective practice. This new edition includes an expanded discussion of psychometric instruments as well as psychological testing with medical patients. The chapter on ethical issues has been completely updated to reflect the 2002 version of the American Psychological Association's "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct," and the chapter on liability now identifies the highest areas of risk and discusses strategies to reduce liability. All chapters include updated reading lists to guide the practitioner or student interested in further study in targeted areas"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved) Introduction to clinical health psychology Becoming a clinical health psychologist Clinical health psychology assessment Intervention strategies in clinical health psychology Pitfalls in practice Ethical issues in the practice of clinical health psychology Liability risks in clinical health psychology Future issues for clinical health psychology.